Article
Article
Marsileales
Article By:
Cronquist, Arthur New York Botanical Garden, New York, New York.
Last reviewed:2012
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.407800
A small order of heterosporous, leptosporangiate ferns (division Polypodiophyta) which grow in water or wet places and are rooted to the substrate. The leaves arise on long stalks from the rhizome and typically have floating blades with four leaflets, suggesting a four-leaved clover. The sporangia are enclosed in modified folded leaves or leaf segments called sporocarps. Megasporangia and microsporangia are borne in the same sporocarp. The order contains a single family and only 3 genera, about 50 species in all, most of them belonging to the widespread genus Marsilea (water clover). See also: Polypodiophyta
The content above is only an excerpt.
About AccessScience
AccessScience provides the most accurate and trustworthy scientific information available.
Recognized as an award-winning gateway to scientific knowledge, AccessScience is an amazing online resource that contains high-quality reference material written specifically for students. Contributors include more than 10,000 highly qualified scientists and 46 Nobel Prize winners.
MORE THAN 8700 articles covering all major scientific disciplines and encompassing the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology and McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science & Technology
115,000-PLUS definitions from the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms
3000 biographies of notable scientific figures
MORE THAN 19,000 downloadable images and animations illustrating key topics
ENGAGING VIDEOS highlighting the life and work of award-winning scientists
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY and additional readings to guide students to deeper understanding and research
LINKS TO CITABLE LITERATURE help students expand their knowledge using primary sources of information
